A team spun out of Carlyle Group Inc. said they’ve got backing from the founders of the US private equity firm as well as Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote for a new Africa-focused fund.
Carlyle co-founders David Rubenstein and Bill Conway are among investors in the Alterra Capital Partners fund, Partner Genevieve Sangudi said. The PE firm plans to raise as much as $500 million in the coming months and has garnered $140 million in its first closing, she said.
While large investors including Carlyle, Blackstone Inc. and KKR & Co. have retreated from Africa, smaller firms are seeing opportunities as startups mushroom to fills gaps on a continent that lacks financial and logistical infrastructure. Alterra plans to invest in the telecommunications, technology, logistics, healthcare, consumer and retail sectors, Sangudi said.
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